Being a big brother
by Cybertronprincess
Summary: G1. It made sense to Grimlock for Swoop to hate him. But the mention of the fact that Swoop had looked for Grimlock made that feeling intensify. Swoop had needed him, and he wasn't there because he was cowering in his room like a Sparkling.
1. Chapter 1

It was their own fault, letting themselves be tricked like that. Megatron's sweet words became sour lies; the humiliation was unbearable. Of course, that wasn't the worst of it.

Grimlock had felt a slight betrayal at the prospect of his creators adding two new Dinobots to the family without asking for his opinion. He already had to keep tabs on stupid Sludge and violent Slag, now he had to watch loner Snarl and inquisitive Swoop. The Minibots and the twins had found it just so slagging _funny_ that big, bad Grimlock was playing the responsible big brother.

Ratchet hadn't found having to piece all five Autobots back together though. Not one bit.

To be honest, he was surprised Ratchet wasn't angrier than he was! He and Wheeljack had literally ran to meet the five of them when they returned that day, Ratchet cursing them for being so gullible and Wheeljack fussing over Swoop and Snarl's wounds.

Oh yes; they'd battled with their new little brothers. And, embarrassingly, they'd had their afts handed to them. He was incredibly thankful only Optimus had been present to see their defeat (other than the Decepticons, but their opinion didn't matter). They'd all been patched up, then the three of them were sent to their quarters.

Ratchet and Wheeljack had actually grounded the three eldest Dinobots.

"You aren't permitted to go outside of quarters for any reason other than fetching energon rations or emptying your fuel tanks. And no energon goodies!," Ratchet hadn't shouted, because that would've made Sludge panic, and no good ever came from a panicking Sludge. The medic had spoken his words firmly and sternly. Grimlock had a feeling even a great leader like Optimus Prime wouldn't argue with _that_ voice.

The tyrannosaurus lumbered down the hallway as quietly as possible, heading for the energon dispenser on the other side of the ARK. He rubbed his forehead tiredly, and why wouldn't he at two o'clock in the morning? He'd been going for energon when those loud mouthed Minibots weren't around to fuel his temper, and to avoid meeting Optimus Prime or Prowl along the way. That would just be awkward. He'd have to face them eventually, but Grimlock could slagging well try not to!

In general, his plan was to live out the rest of his life in his room, fight Decepticons when Wheeljack or Ratchet came for him and sneak to the energon dispenser every night to avoid all social contact and public humiliation for as long as he lived. He knew this plan probably wouldn't work, as most of his strategies never did, but he was willing to give it a shot.

It immediately fell short when he heard the most timid of squawks from around the corner he'd just passed.

He took a step backwards to see around the corner and looked down. His optic band was met by sky blue optics staring up at him nervously, Swoop bracing himself against the wall, wings tilted downwards. The two Dinobots had a staring contest there in the dark, until Grimlock sighed and turned his entire body to face the little mech, leaning against the wall on one arm. "What you doing up so late?," He asked lowly so not to wake anyone residing in the rooms down that particular hallway.

"G-going to energon dispenser. B-but me Swoop n-no can find in d-dark!," Swoop stage whispered, optics darting between the floor and optic contact with Grimlock.

"Why?," The tyrannosaurus raised an optic ridge; as far as he could tell, Swoop was very obedient. After Ratchet had patched him up after that first battle, the pteranodon had insisted on staying in the med-bay and help their creators with fixing his brothers. The medic had called him "good boy" multiple times, and even patted his helm as praise.

Ratchet never patted Grimlock when he behaved himself or saved someone.

"Me Swoop hungry... nasty car twins take me Swoop's energon ration!," The little bot whimpered, settling for staring at his pedes. Grimlock suddenly felt a strange emotion swelling in his chest; he didn't know what it was, but it closely resembled the anger he felt when a Decepticon hurt one of his creators on the battle field. But the feeling wasn't as intense as that, so maybe it wasn't the same thing.

"Why you no tell him momma-Ratchet?," None of the Dinobots would admit to calling their creators momma and daddy, but they'd picked it up while watching the cartoons Carly would put on for them when she needed quiet for homework.

"Me Swoop no want to bother momma or daddy... no tell Snarl because him Snarl will start hurting other Autobots, and me Swoop no could find you Grimlock."

Grimlock's brow furrowed; why would Swoop look for him in the first place? He'd attempted to kill the pteranodon and the stegosaurus when they first met, so it made sense to Grimlock for Swoop to hate him. But the mention of the fact that Swoop _had_ looked for Grimlock made that feeling intensify.

Swoop had needed him, and he wasn't there because he was cowering in his room like a Sparkling.

He mentally growled and kicked himself. What had he been thinking? He couldn't run away from the fact that he had two more little brothers to look after! And it was no secret that most of the lower ranking soldiers on the ARK thought the Dinobots to be nothing more than glorified training drones. Glorified, _malfunctioning_ training drones.

Swoop flinched when Grimlock reached out his hand, then looked at the offered appendage. "Come. Me Grimlock bring Swoop to energon dispenser. And if twins ever bother you Swoop again, come straight to me Grimlock in rec room!"

"What if you Grimlock not there?"

"Then me Grimlock probably asleep, but you Swoop still must come to me Grimlock!," Swoop stared up at him for a moment, but Grimlock's impressive lack of empathy left him clueless to what emotions was written over the pteranodon's face.

"Me Swoop thought you Grimlock no like Swoop or Snarl."

"You Swoop and him Snarl Dinobots. Dinobots stick together no matter what, and me Grimlock always look after other Dinobots. You Swoop understand?," Swoop still stared, then a smile cracked his face and he placed his fragile looking servo in Grimlock's behemoth palm.

He carefully closed his digits around the smaller appendage then quietly lead Swoop to the energon dispenser. "Grimlock?"

"Hm?"

"Me Swoop sorry we kick you other Dinobots' butts."

* * *

**So I was looking through old files, as you do sometimes, and I found a couple of little gems stashed away. Will be reading them back to myself, possibly uploading a few, and maybe getting more inspiration. In the meantime; enjoy this small ficlet. I think it's cute.**


	2. Chapter 2

"You Sludge are so stupid," The brontosaurus weakly turned his head, cheeks making a grating sound against the concrete floor. Snarl sat on his knees in front of him, staring at his brother through narrowed optics. "You Sludge should not have provoked them Decepticons." He growled.

"... Decepticons... would've hurt... Snarl... me Sludge no let that happen...," The fact the Decepticons had managed to capture himself, Sludge _and_ Wheeljack ticked him off enough. The fact the Decepticons locked the two Dinobots up in the same cage, while taking their creator off elsewhere ticked him off worse. But... Snarl wasn't sure if Megatron had ordered the Seekers and the Stunticons to come sauntering in, throwing around insults and provoking his temper, or if they'd intended to have Snarl give them an excuse to throw a punch. All in self-defence, of course.

They didn't get the chance to, though, when Sludge stood up for him. Sludge had acted first when Motormaster had begun reaching for Snarl, despite having heavy chains binding his hands behind his back. He'd managed to arab-spring to his feet, then whirled around and kicked the lilac and black mech into the wall of the cage. It had gone down hill from there.

Snarl felt himself trembling, for the first time. He kept his distance from the other Dinobots, though he allowed Swoop's company on occasions. He did so to _prevent_ this from happening!

Apparently someone as stupid as Sludge didn't understand that.

"You Snarl... little brother... big brothers take care... of little brothers... him Grimlock tell me Sludge that." The brontosaurus smiled slightly, clearly in a great amount of pain.

"Idiot."

"So them others say," Snarl bit his lower lip, then reached for Sludge's shackles. He'd tried before, as he'd managed to remove his own cuffs, but Sludge's seemed to be much more enduring. He lifted up a rock, kicked up from the fight in the compact cell, then began bashing it against the shackles until...

_**Crack!**_

Sludge sighed in relief, letting his arms sag behind him. "Thank you." He mumbled, feeling Snarl roll him onto his back.

"... Autobots and other Dinobots come soon... Ratchet fix you Sludge, and others save Wheeljack," The Stegosaurus muttered. He settled down, placing his helm gently on Sludge's shoulder while placing an arm around his brother's middle, clutching him close. "Me Snarl protect you Sludge until then."

"Me Sludge... appreciate it," Pain was something he could deal with, as long as his little brother was safe.


	3. Chapter 3

With a frustrated sigh, Grimlock reached down, plucking Strafe off the floor. He threw him a little way into the air, making the sparkling laugh giddily, then sat him on his knee, bouncing him up and down. Afterburner then decided it was an appropriate moment to start howling, setting off Lightspeed and Scattershot. Grimlock groaned, scooping all three into his left arm, but having to stop bouncing Strafe. The little space shuttle didn't like that, crying out for attention and playtime.

Nosecone toddled over, petro-rabbit blanket in his balled fist, pressed against his mouth. He looked up at his creator with wide blue optics, sucking on the ear of the fabric rabbit head sewn into the center of the blanket.

"Papa...," He mumbled passed the fabric. "I need to pee...!," Grimlock made a long suffering sigh, looking down at the toddler, cradling his little brothers in his arms. Why wouldn't they stop crying?

"You Nosy can go by self?," He asked hopefully, but the quick, eager shake of Nosecone's helm made him whine. Silently, he cursed the other Dinobots' for their cowardice; battling Decepticons four to one was no problem for them, but babysitting duty made them shake in their transistors. "Okay." He sighed, standing up rather haphazardly with four bornlings in his arms.

As much as Nosecone wanted to hold his creator's hand, it was obvious that would be impossible so long as his brothers were crying, and he was already causing Grimlock enough grief with his fear of falling down the toilet bowl again. So, he just scampered along side the Dinobot leader, taking ten scrambling steps for every one of Grimlock's large strides. The trek through the ARK seemed somewhat longer than usual to Grimlock, with the tiny Technobots crying relentlessly.

"Me Grimlock may have to pummel other Dinobots later...," He muttered, though Nosecone was used to his creator's annoyed grumbling. Autobots scrambled out the way of the on-coming noise, whispering and mumbling to each other as Grimlock passed them. He ignored the stares and the giggling, in favour of his continued attempts to calm the bornlings.

"Papa, I'm bursting!," Nosecone whined, squeezing his thighs together desperately. Grimlock winced and looked down at him; his eldest son had already suffered the embarrassment of wetting himself in the hallways before, but Optimus was kind enough to ban any of the Autobots teasing the kid about it. At another desperate whimper, and Nosecone squeezing his optics shut, Grimlock heaped the four _still crying_ bornlings into his left arm, snatching the toddler around the waste with his free hand and breaking into a sprint for the bathrooms.

"Move! Move!," He bellowed, bowling over a few bots in the process. He skidded to a halt in front of the door, barged in and promptly sat Nosecone in one of the stalls, panting in relief.

Disaster; avoided. Now to solve the crying problem.

He walked out of the bathrooms more calmly, Nosecone skipping along next to him. It was a peculiar sight; great big Grimlock with five little sparklings. Well, the big guy had been feeling the strain of parenthood for quite a while, and was strongly considering asking Ratchet or First Aid for a break. Just for a day, or even a few hours would be alright.

He plonked down onto the couch in the rec room, placing all four babies in his lap and just letting them cry. All they really wanted was attention, he knew, so maybe ignoring them for a little while would get the message across to them; daddy was a very tired mech. His helm lolled back, arm draped along the back of the couch. He groaned, letting his optics power down as much as he could bare with the constant noise. Then, he felt Nosecone tug at his knee. He looked down exhaustedly, sighing. "What Nosy want now?"

"Can I play with Steeljaw?," He asked cheerfully, hopefully. Grimlock nodded.

"Go ask him Blaster, me Grimlock not care." With a happy squeal, Nosecone scurried off in the communication officer's direction, who was sitting by Teletran 1, head-banging to some of his Primus forsaken music. Scattershot had finally gotten the idea, going quiet and sucking his thumb, Strafe and Lightspeed sniffling pitifully, but Afterburner was still going strong. "Me Grimlock want nap... can me Grimlock have nap?," He asked the sparklings. The three none-screaming sparklings looked up at him curiously. "We have nap together, yes? Nap good...!," Letting his head go limp again, he fully shuttered his optics behind his visor. "Me Grimlock think daddy-hood more trouble than worth."

.X.

When he awoke, he was staring at the ceiling, somehow having rolled onto his front in his sleep. He sat bolt upright, fearing he'd knocked the sparklings onto the floor. But when he looked down, Scattershot, Afterburner, Lightspeed and Strafe were no where to be seen. Grimlock was still for a moment, then he jumped to his feet, and called out for Nosecone. "Nosy, where your brothers? … Nosy?," No reply. He cautiously walked up to Blaster. "Where Nosy and Technobots go?," He asked gruffly, feeling a little antsy. Steeljaw was fast asleep in his carrier's lap, the red mech looking up at Grimlock, looking puzzled.

"The lil' guy got tired of playin' with Steeljaw here, so went to take a nap with you guys on the couch. They're not there?," He asked curiously. He flinched when Grimlock span around and ran out of the room, staring after the larger mech. "I guess not...!"

Grimlock stormed through the base, yelling and calling for his sparklings. He even roared out in beast tongue, something they'd come to see as a warning that they were in trouble. But unlike usual, they didn't come scampering and toddling back to him. This made his spark twitch a little uneasily. He ran to the Dinobot's cave near the control room, finding his brothers casually cowering in the confines of the sparkling free space. "You Dinobots seen Technobots?," He asked desperately, getting worried. They all looked up at him in horror, then shook their heads.

"Why they not with you Grimlock?," Swoop asked, tilting his head.

"They run off when me Grimlock asleep!," Grimlock howled, clutching his helm agonisingly. The Dinobots glanced at each other; the idea of babysitting their nephews terrified them, but still, letting them get hurt was not an option.

"We help Grimlock look," Snarl stated, transforming to root mode. "You Grimlock no panic."

"Me Grimlock already panicking!," He then turned and ran back down the hallways, shouting his children's names. He wasn't really expecting a reply, maybe a terrified whimper to follow until he found them. He was hoping it would _only_ be fear making them cry.

He paused, asking the Mini-bots, Aerialbots and the twins if they'd seen them, then proceeded to smash Sideswipe and Sunstreaker's helms together when they accused him of eating the Technobots in his sleep, and booting the laughing Brawn and Huffer down the hall.

"Easy, Grimlock," Silverbolt attempted to sooth. "We'll help you look!," They all split up down different hallways, in search of the tiny sparklings. Grimlock was now beyond panic; down right rancid and psychotically bent of finding his sons.

Then, the familiar scent of Afterburner's engine fumes met his olfactory sensors. He followed it promptly, winding up at a particular door that he didn't pay attention to, simply tearing it open, barging into Optimus Prime's office.

"Oh... hello, Grimlock. You could've at least knocked, you know," Optimus mumbled, pausing in his tickling of Scattershot's tummy. Grimlock panted and huffed where he stood, staring at the Prime and all five of his children, either climbing onto the desk, or using the leg gap to play house.

"You... Optimus take Technobots?!," He bellowed.

"Yes, you looked very tired, so I thought you could use a break," The Prime replied, calm as ever. Nosecone then popped out from under the desk, grinning up at Grimlock.

"Papa, look! We made a secret base, we did! See?," He gestured to a pile of empty energon cubes, used to build a small wall by the Prime's pedes under the desk. Grimlock stared at his son, then looked up at the Prime, who began cooing at Scattershot again.

Grimlock walked over to the desk, sitting in front of it but still seemed taller than Optimus, looking over this 'Secret Base' as Nosecone excitedly explained where everything was. The two adults didn't speak much as they let the sparklings play, until Nosecone, Lightspeed and Strafe were asleep in Grimlock's lap, Scattershot and Afterburner in Prime's.

"They're very energetic," Optimus noted, quietly rocking the two children. Grimlock nodded. "You've done very well, raising them on your own."

"Hmph, other Dinobots no help. Scared of sparklings," He paused. "No, scared of _hurting_ sparklings."

"Understandable; they're big and fierce warriors, but they have softer sides. Like you," Grimlock winced, choosing to ignore that last comment. "What would happen if they had their own sparklings?"

"Do same as me Grimlock; try hardest. Wing it."

"I believe most parents do," Optimus chuckled. "Ratchet and Wheeljack certainly have," Grimlock snorted, then shifted so Lightspeed was a little more comfortable. "But they must be proud of you. All of you."

"They be proud if him Slag have kids, then _not_ raise them to be violent idiots like him," The Prime laughed softly. A nice sound, Grimlock thought.

"Now who might bare Slag's sparklings, or have him bare theirs?"

"Him Slag have optics on little jet for while now," He replied. "Him Fireflight cute, apparently."

"That's... a terrifying thought. But somehow quite sweet."

"Suppose," They sat there in comfortable silence, until Grimlock clicked his glossa. "Me Grimlock forgot to tell Dinobots and Aerialbots to stop searching for Sparklings," They stared at each other for a moment, then laughed good-naturedly. "Me Grimlock let them keep looking for another hour or so."

"You're mean," Prime chided, but didn't actually encourage him to call off the search. He cooed at the sparklings, singing softly in Cybertronian when they started to stir. "If you ever require assistance, or simply a break, I'd be happy to take them for you."

Grimlock looked up in astonishment. The Prime barely looked back, in favour of continuing to sing to a slightly whimpering Afterburner. He was kind, and tolerant. Yes, he'd made mistakes in the past that Grimlock believed he wouldn't have, if he'd been in command. But he'd made up for them, throwing himself head first into danger and teaching the Dinobot exactly what it meant to be a leader. And on top of all this, he looked rather lovely when holding Grimlock's sparklings like that.

"Thank you," Was his response. Optimus nodded, stroking Scattershot's helm.

* * *

**This was something extremely cute I found, that I must have been very tired when I wrote it, since I completely forgot it existed. While it's not really revolving around the "brother" motif, it's Dinobot family related, and really sweet, so what the heck. In it goes!**

**Don't ask me who the Technobots' mother is... use your imaginations. Besides, Optimus will eventually become their lovely step mother... yes, I really did just say that.**

**On a side note; I _want_ Nosecone's blanket! O.o**

_**Hail to the princess, baby.**_


End file.
